Senate Avoids Solutions on Highway Funding With Another Bailout

Senators allocated more than $100 billion to bail out the Highway Trust Fund in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, pushing off a pain point for lawmakers that have struggled to find a permanent solution of how to pay for highways and mass transit.

The legislation’s provisions and added amendments could set up Congress to address the fund’s solvency five years from now, senators say. In the meantime, the fund paid out roughly $15 billion more than it took in, just in 2020, with the shortfall projected to grow with each passing year.

The infrastructure bill, which would reauthorize surface transportation programs ...